Akira

Akira walked down the sidewalk, Sakerse trailing him like a shadow. As they walked, they both kept an eye on those around them: the businessmen, the streetpunks, the gearheads, even the deliveryboys. A step too close to Akira, and Sekerse would move her hand for the tasgun. This would be enough for most people to get the hint and back away.

A particularly stubborn Mithraist wouldn't leave them alone. "I bear the truth," he declared. His truth was never uttered, however, as Sakerse fired her tasgun at him, leaving him writhing in the gutter with his cardboard sign soaking in the grime there. Sakerse watched as the words SHINE THE LIGHT TURN OFF THE NIGHT blurred into the dark water.

Akira gave her a look. She shrugged. They walked on.

The Geomys office was in one of the mid-range office buildings. The doorman was nothing more than a hologram. In the lobby, Akira's glasses were beginning to de-polarize, returning to normal lenses. Sakerse had already removed hers.

"We're here to see Mr. Rayl from Geomys," Akira told the doorman. It nodded before opening the gate for them to pass through. Sakerse set off the metal detector, but before the doorman could say anything, Akira pulled out his watch and pressed a button on the side. The detector's alarm stopped, and the doorman just stood there with a dumb expression on its face.

Akira put the watch back into his suit pocket. With a nod to Sakerse they made their way to the elevators. They rode up. Sakerse stared at the speaker in the elevator, her face blank. Akira figured she was trying to figure out a way to stop the annoying music from playing. He did something with his watch again, and with that, the music stopped. He gave her a wink before pocketing it again.

The elevator door slid open and they walked down the hallway toward the Geomys office. On the door was a picture of the earth, stylized, with a cartoon rodent orbiting it in some sort of rocket ship. "Cute," Akira said before pushing the door open.

The office was modest. A reception desk stood just beyond the door, and a little glass orb sat in the middle. It flickered to life when they entered. Within the glass orb the figure of a woman appeared. Her look fit every single expectation one would have when imagining a receptionist. She had her hair in a raised ponytail, worse horn-rimmed glasses, and had a pert yet professional manner about her.

"Good morning," she said. "May I help you?"

Akira smiled at her. "Yes," he said. "We have an appointment with Mr. Rayl. My name is Akira Taito, and this is my assistant, Sakerse."

The little woman disappeared for a moment in a puff of digitized smoke. After a moment, she reappeared. "He'll see you now," she said. The door into the rest of the office opened. Akira stepped through, followed by Sakerse. They saw Conor at the end of a small hallway. He looked like he'd not been having a very good morning.

Akira smiled. "Mr. Rayl," he said, offering his hand. Conor took it and shook it. He seemed like he was in a daze. 

"Please," he said, "come into my office." He led them inside. He motioned to the chair for Akira to sit, but upon realizing that he had only one extra chair in his office, he apologized. "Let me get one from the conference room for your associate."

"I can stand," said Sakerse. She placed her back to the wall of the office, getting herself the best possible view of both Akira and Mr. Rayl.

"Oh, okay," said Conor. He went back around his desk and took a seat. Akira sat across from him.

"We're very impressed with your latest product release," Akira began. "You've managed to make a fully functional drone at half the size, and cost, I might add, of other drones that do the same thing. Plus the swarming model to help accomplish larger tasks. I can see how this can revolutionize the industry."

Conor smiled. "It was the whole team, really," he said.

Akira nodded. "Yes. As you may be aware, we at Araiguma Enterprises have the largest market share of drone-based services."

"Pardon my saying," said Conor, "but you guys pretty much make every piece of technology out there."

Akira laughed. "Yes, you'd be hard pressed to find any significant piece of technology that didn't have our mask on it. Do you know how we manage that?"

"No," said Conor. "Not really."

"We have a strong internal team for building new technologies. However, most of our innovation comes from smaller businesses, like yours, that we accumulate through acquisitions."

"And that's why you're here?" said Conor.

"Precisely," said Akira. "We're very impressed by the performance of your Taskrottas, and would like to incorporate it into our business model." He pulled a sheet of paper from his inner jacket pocket, and with a wood-inlaid fountain pen, wrote a number on one side. He shook it gently, allowing the ink to dry. He laid it face down on the desk and slid it across the surface toward Conor. "You'll find that our offer is more than fair. Though, sadly, with the recent accident, I don't think I could justify offering more."

Conor picked up the paper and looked at it. The number was written in a beautiful calligraphy to the point where it was almost difficult to determine what the actual offer was. Once he did, however, his eyes widened. He recalled what Boxter had told him about keeping the business afloat. This wasn't just a life jacket or a raft. This was a yacht with its own helipad. He took a breath, hoping that the boring eyes of Akira and his assistant didn't pick up too much from his surprised expression.

"A tempting offer," he said, setting the paper back on the desk, face down. "But I need to understand the nature of the offer better. Will my employees have job security if I choose to sell?"

Akira considered this a moment. "How many employees do you have?" he said at last.

"Well," said Conor. "Aside from me, there's Syd, and the two AIs. And we used a few contractors."

Akira nodded. "Our company policy is to keep the current employees during the transitionary period, provided they are core assets. However, after that, we must follow the company-wide retention policy."

"And what is that?" asked Conor. He wiped the sweat from his hands on the legs of his pants.

"Well, there are many things to consider. As for contractors, we'll offer them full time positions, provided they can pass the interview process, and provided they want the position. If their skills cannot be met internally, we will consider continuing the contract with them until we can find a suitable replacement, as we value doing our work internally. As for this Syd, he'll be fine until retirement age--"

"Retirement age?" asked Conor.

"Oh, yes," said Akira. "We have a mandatory retirement age. It's based on some pretty interesting research. I for one am looking forward to mine in a few years. Then I can focus more on my painting."

Conor nodded. "And the AIs?"

Akira shrugged. "We don't usually have much use for AIs. Those we retire after the transition, usually selling for a discount to small business like yours. Otherwise, they get wiped, and their circuits get recycled."

Conor shrank. "So, you'll just delete them?"

Akira nodded. "Yes," he said. "That's our company policy." He looked around the office. "Don't you have a business partner who should be here as well?"

"Oh," said Conor. "Well," he said. "I do, or I did. You see," he said. "Well, actually, he died this morning."

"I'm sorry to hear that," said Akira. He leaned back in his seat. "Did the partnership become a sole ownership on his death?" he asked.

Conor shrugged. "I'd have to ask our lawyer."

Akira produced a card from his jacket pocket. His name and contact information glowed on the face of it. He handed the card to Conor before standing up. "Please consider my offer, and if you can determine who else needs to make that agreement, please do so. Our offer is only valid until the end of the week." He nodded his head to Conor. "All the best, Mr. Rayl." He stepped out of the office, followed by Sakerse.

Conor sat there, studying the card.

Out on the street, Akira stretched his arms. "That was a good meeting," he said to Sakerse.

"How do you mean? You didn't get an answer."

He looked at her. "Just because you don't have any facial expressions doesn't mean other people aren't broadcasting their thoughts with every twitch of the eyebrow or quiver of the lips." He brushed an imaginary fleck of something off of his lapel. "Mr. Rayl said far more than I did during that meeting." He looked off down the street. "Would you like a bubble tea? My treat?"

Sakerse nodded. They walked off toward the nearby café, Akira checking his watch before slipping it back into his pocket. An ambulance rushed past in the street, followed by a motorcycle with its police lights blaring.